Drunken Robot Pornography (PC) Review

We liked?

Funky main menu song
A comprehensive titan creator
Bright and colourful palette

Not so much?

Repetitive gameplay
Sparse graphical detail
The difficulty curve is all over the place

Final Fiendish Findings?

If you’re a fan of similar twitch based run and gun games like Painkiller or Serious Sam then the frantic mayhem of Drunken Robot Pornography may well suit you. However the gameplay and the graphics share much in common; both are well polished but incredibly basic and repetitive. Some balancing is required in order to make level difficulty as you progress through the game a bit more linear. The only place where DRP feels as though it’s trying hard is in the humour, which is more often miss than hit.

This game contains two of my favourite things, robots and drunken! Sadly it doesn’t contain one of my other favourite things… engaging gameplay.

Let’s crack on with the lazy journalism and tell you what this game is kind of like. Imagine R-Type, or a 2D side scrolling shoot ‘em up like Metal Slug. Now turn that into an FPS, centre most of the game around the big bosses at the end of each level whose appendages you need to shoot off in order to weaken them, and you’ve pretty much got Drunken Robot Pornography.

In Drunken Robot Pornography, you play Reuben Matsumoto, a hapless robotics engineer who has to deal with the chaos and destruction reigned down by your robotic bartender after you gave him sentience. The gameplay sees you travelling from one boxed arena to the next. In some levels you’ll simply try and hit enough points in the timeframe by drinking powerups (in this case Martinis) and shooting at numerous drones who are trying to convalesce to your position. In other levels this culminates in the summoning of titans, huge sprawling boss robots with numerous appendages. The trick towards beating the level is by shooting those parts of the titan that are flashing red until you finally whittle it down to the core.

Strategy is threadbare in DRP, much like the 2D side scrolling shooters it’s modelled from. Success is a case of grabbing the power-ups to improve your weapon or jetpack duration, and keeping constant movement from the swarming enemies that are trying to hit you. The difficulty curve seems to jump from one level to the next. Some areas you’ll polish off in a few seconds flat, but the previous one required a few efforts in order to get it right, particularly when a tight time limit has been put in place.

That’s not to say there’s absolutely no thought put into the level design at all. Certain levels definitely have an optimum route through which you’ll maximise your score and beat the titan/timer. But largely it’s a case of run, gun and jump. Keep your finger down on the left hand mouse button and circle strafe your way through each stage. If you had helium in your fingers it might present a more interesting dynamic to the gameplay.

The controls themselves offer a twitchy experience similar to that of Quake III. The responsiveness of the camera look is definitely there but the character movement itself feel slippery. While this might be an annoyance to some, I found it complimented the style of the game quite well and was never too infuriating.

The gameplay outside of the arenas is spartan, a minimalist map of the game world acts as a hub between each venue. Voicemail messages left by other characters in the game progress the story along although they’re a loose hinge by which the rest of the game progression hangs. Each level is introduced with a global leader board of other Steam players and an often funny intro.

Something that I’ve struggled to come to terms with is the transition of a 2D R-Type style shooter into the 3D FPS space. The enemies come at you from every angle, often from above, so the only tactical solution to this is constant movement and circle strafing. But it becomes all too easy to start taking hits from the numerous assailants in your blind spots. It is here where the gameplay becomes infuriating and difficult at times, or just plain wearisome.

The graphics are solid, bright and cheery if a little functional. The titans themselves can be a glorious kaleidoscope of colour, tentacles stretching out across the arena and bright lasers or explosions adding to the effect. The game certainly can’t be accused of a monotonous colour palette, it’s truly a Technicolor treat. Otherwise the fidelity of the graphics are a little basic and low-res, which is good news for such a frantic game as even a basic GPU should be able to render out the action at a decent frame rate.

The levels themselves are graphically crisp and clean but they lack detail and depth. The game portrays an extremely shiny and threadbare vision of future Boston. The levels catch the eye but never really hold the attention for too long. Ultimately they’re a series of simple boxouts through which you fight the titans. They’re supposed to convey actual locations like shopping malls or parks but that never really comes across in the execution.

Accompanying the game is a reasonable soundtrack that fits in nicely with the art direction of the game. A solid electro score that’s occasionally enhanced by some serious wubs. It’s also fair to credit DRP as one of the few games that you’ll willingly spend time in the main menu thanks to the nifty song that plays over it.

DRP is enhanced by a few additional features in addition to the main campaign which can help pad out the shelf life for those who enjoy the gameplay. You have the opportunity to create your own titan or level using the designer tool. The tool itself is incredibly feature rich and the range of customisation options for the titans (right down to materials and shading) mean that you can spend a lot of time crafting out your own designs to a fine level of detail. It’s only a shame that the tutorial was just as comprehensive as it’s not always particularly apparent how to work the tool. Nonetheless once you’ve grappled around with it for long enough you’ll have a finished design which can then be shared for others to try, in addition to being able to download other user generated creations. In addition to this the game attempts to take things online with the Drunken Robot Battle Royale, where each week a new challenge is uploaded for players to compete against for leader board fame.

If you’re a fan of similar twitch based run and gun games like Painkiller or Serious Sam then the frantic mayhem of Drunken Robot Pornography may well suit you. However the gameplay and the graphics share much in common; both are well polished but incredibly basic and repetitive. Some balancing is required in order to make level difficulty as you progress through the game a bit more linear. The only place where DRP feels as though it’s trying hard is in the humour, which is more often miss than hit.

Adam

Playing games since I'd developed enough motor functions to hold a joystick. From Commodore 64 all the way through to the latest gen. Favourite games to play are FPS games and anything with a deep and compelling story and a world that draws you in. I also enjoy writing, film making and playing bass in whatever band will have me :)

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